Saturday, May 9, 2009

The Baby-Sitters Club: Kristy's Great Idea

The Baby-Sitters Club: Kristy's Great Idea

A Graphic Novel by Raina Telgemeier

Publisher: Scholastic, Graphix, 2006

ISBN #: 0-439-73933-0

Summary:

Kristi Thomas decides to create a Baby-Sitters Club with three of her friends. The four girls work together to take on challenging toddlers while becoming close friends whom they can share secrets with.

My Thoughts About This Book:

While the Baby-Sitters Club series has been popular with students, I must admit that I had never read any of Ann Martin's original series. Telgemeier's adaptation was my first exposure to Kristy and her friends. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I liked that this book was a good graphic novel for girls, as so many in this genre seem to be geared toward boys. I think that for girls who are reluctant/struggling readers, this book would be ideal. The limited text, and clear uncluttered accompanying drawings allow the reader to easily follow the story. The story line was well developed and moved along at a nice pace. It also included many situations that young girls could relate to such as a mother remarrying. I think this book would make readers want to read another in the series, or read a book from the original Ann Martin series.

Review Excerpts:

From Booklist: "The story has been effectively trimmed to accommodate the format (Kristy's actions and feelings are the focus), but there's still plenty of content, comedy, action, and emotion--in both the text and the art--as the kids cope with feisty toddlers and personal problems and fight with and help one another, while modeling right behavior and the ups and downs of friendship. "